Fed won't reverse course due to jobs data: Merrill

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - Merrill Lynch chief North American economist David Rosenberg does not believe the Federal Reserve will "reverse course" by raising interest despite "great" October employment data. He noted that while the unemployment rate dipped to 6 percent from 6.1 percent, it is virtually unchanged since May, while the economy has grown at an estimated 5 percent rate during that time. In addition, there is an "enormous pool" of available workers - the "augmented" unemployment rate, which adds back those that are not officially counted in the labor force, was at 9 percent in October, up from 8.6 percent last year. Also, recent job growth as not translated into higher wages and is therefore not an inflationary threat, given that the three-month hourly earnings trend is running at a record low 0.8 percent annualized rate.

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